Search - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Salman Aishwarya Hindi Film / Bollywood Film / Indian Cinema / DVD) on DVD

S A A. (Learned2Heal)
Reviewed on 6/25/2011...

I do love the colors and pageantry of Indian films. This one was one of the best, visually. It seems as though Nandini had a different sari on in every scene. That, I enjoyed very much, because the saris are just gorgeous. And so was Nandini. Sameer, on the other hand, though handsome, struck me more like an Indian Jerry Lewis with his demented need to be funny all the time. He was clearly the "comic relief". His character was an Indian Peter Pan, if you will.

But my really big (B.I.G.) issue with this movie is how the director blatantly tried to pass off Budapest as being in "Italy". Surely this must be as insulting to most self-respecting, educated Indians as it is to Hungarians? Seriously, he could easily have presented Budapest as some city in Italy, if only he had not chosen to display the very well-known Hungarian panoramas of the Danube and the Hungarian Parliament as well as just about every single much-frequented tourist landmark in that city, and even including taxicabs with Hungarian writing on the side. I mean, filming in alternate locations is done all the time, but with a little more finesse and, generally, the filmmakers take pains to at least use the correct language and local customs and costumes for the intended backdrop. None of which happened here.

It gets worse... Not only did he try to pass off Budapest as being in Italy, all the "Italians" are speaking Hungarian! The closest you get to an Italian phrase in this movie is when they refer to "The church of the Santa Maria" which, in truth, is probably more a Latin name than it is Italian.

For me, a Hungarian (in case you haven't guessed...), this whole thing was very distracting and pretty laughable. Pity, really, since clearly this was a fairly big-budget production. And the storyline was kind of fun and unexpected too.

So, if you don't mind a tour of Budapest, a taste of Hungary, while trying to "imagine" you are in Italy, this is the movie for you. Overall, I did find the movie enjoyable and did not mind a good chuckle while I watched footage of my birth city, listened to my mother tongue and proceeded to get homesick just a little... Yes, pretty distracting, really...